This invention relates to a rotary combustor for burning municipal solid waste and more particularly to an improved longitudinal seal for the rotary combustor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,289 describes a rotary combustor that includes a rotatable cylindrical drum having longitudinal or axial seals extending from the outer periphery of the drum, and sealing structures for forming passages for providing combustion fluids along portions of the rotatable cylindrical drum. Each sealing structure includes a movable shoe positioned along the periphery of a portion of the rotatable cylindrical drum, a support positioned at a predetermined distance from the axial seals along a portion of the periphery of the rotatable cylindrical drum, and first and second spring units coupled between the support and the movable shoe. The spring units urge the movable shoe into contact with at least one of the axial seals. As a result, an air seal is continuously provided between the axial seal and the movable shoe even though the rotary combustor expands and contracts with temperature.